Tagged: 50 Watts

Illustrations by Okamoto Kiichi for the legendary illustrated magazine Kodomo no kuni
(“Children’s Land”), 1922–30
Bio of Okamoto Kiichi (1888–1930) by the Saru Gallery:Okamoto Kiichi studied together with Kuroda Seiki at the school of Hakubakai. He first exhibited woodblock prints in 1912. He was a member of various artists’ societies, and contributed his self-carved woodblock prints to a number of magazines, one of which was Kindai no Yôga. In the latter part of his career he created designs for stage scenery and also worked as an illustrator of children’s stories. His prints were also used as book illustrations by Onchi Kôshirô.
A longer bio can be found at the Kodomo No Kuni site, and there’s even a wikipedia entry. Edmond Dulac and Arthur Rackham have been cited as influences. I think I also see Benjamin Rabier in some of his animal illustrations. There’s one small collection of his work currently available (in Japanese).
About the site that houses 9000 images from the almost 300 issues of Kodomo no kuni: “This program was created as part of the Picture Book Gallery project of the International Library of Children’s Literature to introduce in digital form the story of the picture book genre from its beginnings until the present. The program was designed to reproduce the works contained in the journal Kodomo no kuni [Children’s Land] and convert them to digital images, which have been edited and titled and made available to the public as a virtual exhibit.”

Previous posts from this archive: Hatsuyama Shigeru and Takeo Takei.
This post first appeared on Feb. 5, 2015 on 50 Watts
Dear internet editors: please don’t just reblog this entire post if you can help yourselves.

“An intriguing piece of film history. Bound together in this unique volume is a collection of promotional material (mainly, ‘Chirashi’), touting American films released in Japan in the early 1930s.”

Kuroneko, 1968

Wild Bunch, 1969

Magazine ad for “Seishun Zukai” movie, 1931
via Pink Tentacle

The majority of the scans here are from expired auction listings at Heritage Auctions (ha.com). There’s a whole blog of them too at JapaneseMoviePosters.
I put some Japanese horror movie posters on my tumblr. (Including one which makes Michael Myers look like a Simpsons character.)
This post first appeared on June 9, 2014 on 50 Watts

Another harvest of images from one of my favorite artists, Walter Schnackenberg (1880–1961). I’m starting to wonder if a proper book overview of his work will even be published in my lifetime.
I pulled most of the images from various expired auction or bookseller listings of the rare publication Kostume / Plakate Und Dekorationen. It’s currently selling for $4000 online so I’m satisfied with these somewhat scrappy photos and scans. It includes “31 color lithograph plates, eight photographic plates and five black and white plates of poster, advertising and costume design.”
See all my posts on Schnackenberg

from Jugend

from Jugend

costume designs!

costume designs!

costume designs!

in his studio with model

for Jugend 1915

for Jugend 1915

See all my posts on Schnackenberg
Repeated from the first post (Sept. 2008):
There doesn’t seem to be much info on him on the web. Here’s a bio from the non-site walterschnackenberg.com: Born in Bad Lauterburg in 1880, Walter Schnackenberg found his vocation as a draughtsman and painter while still very young. At 19 he went to Munich, where he at first attended Heinrich Knirr’s painting school before going on directly, like so many of his contemporaries, to study at the Franz von Stuck Academy. Drawing is Schnackenberg’s strong point. His lively imagination made him particularly good at caricature. He drew for the celebrated magazines ‘Jugend’ and ‘Simplizissimus’. His themes were theatre and the comic muse. Travelling extensively, Schnackenberg often went to Paris, where he was especially interested in the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. As a print-maker, Schnackenberg devoted himself mainly to poster art and his most mature work is in this genre. He was also well-known as a designer of stage scenery and costumes. With his evident preference for frivolous ladies, he was highly fashionable in his day. Schnackenberg does not have the acutely critical approach of a Grosz or a Hubbuch. Instead, his works resemble those of Jeanne Mammen, who devoted herself to portraying pert Berlin girls. During the late phase of his career, Schnackenberg introduced surreal elements into his work. People with bestial, mask-like faces were intended to symbolize the unsatisfied lusts and addictions of the petty bourgeois. Schnackenberg spent his last years in Rosenheim and died there in 1961.

The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, Hungarian poster, 1958
via ha.com
Heritage says it is a “representation of the Czech film The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, based on the 1896 Verne novel Face the Flag. The tale is cleverly filmed in a special process which causes every image on screen to resemble an old-fashioned woodcut engraving, which the poster offered here mimics to great effect.”

Czech Planet of the Apes poster by Vatislav Hlavaty
via ha.com

Romanian Planet of the Apes poster, 1978
via ha.com

Creeping Poison movie poster, 1946, Austria
via ha.com
According to Heritage this film — also known as Schleichendes Gift — is “a post-WWII documentary about venereal disease.”

Though I’ve featured many illustrations and prints by Richard Teschner, until now I hadn’t found nice-sized images of his legendary puppets. Enjoy.

Richard Teschner with his puppets, 1914

Most of the photos in this post are copyright of the Theater Museum in Vienna, which is holding a large exhibit on Teschner through April 21, 2014.
Repeating from an earlier post:Richard Teschner (1879, Bohemia—1948, Vienna) made prints and illustrated books in turn-of-the-century Prague, hanging out with writers like Meyrink and Paul Leppin and exhibiting with Hugo Steiner-Prag.

He finally settled in Vienna and devoted himself to the puppet theater. Brittanica says he “developed the artistic potentialities of the Javanese rod puppet for western puppet theatre.” I’ll keep digging! (For instance, someone needs to comb through this archive of his puppets.) [update: some photos of Teschner’s puppets here.]

The Princess, from “Prinzessin und Wassermann,” 1913

From the Theater Museum: “In techniques for rod-puppets, Richard Teschner (1879–1948) set new standards. Teschner, one of the most notable representatives of Viennese art nouveau, was a man of exceptionally diverse gifts: he was a painter, graphic designer, sculptor, puppeteer and much more. With his revolutionary theatre of figures, he created an integrated theatrical work of art encompassing everything from puppets to plays, stagecraft and incidental music. Using the Javanese rod-puppets as his model, he developed a new, expressive puppet variety for his pantomimic plays. Overcoming the traditional proscenium stage led to the unique round of the Figure Mirror, which gave rise to images of great beauty and suggestive effect.”

I’ve done three posts of vintage Swedish movie posters, but this is my first (and probably last) post of Danish posters. Kurt Wenzel and Erik F. (Erik Frederiksen) seemed to illustrate many Danish posters. The reproductions are from expired auction listings at ha.com. Heritage doesn’t have many to choose from (unlike the Swedish posters), and almost all of them are stamped by the Danish censor board (which makes me think they came from a single collection).

Greed (1926)

Kiss of Death (1947)

Last Warning (1929)

The Thing from Another World (1951)

The War of the Worlds (1954)
signed: Wenzel

King Kong (poster, 1948)
signed: Boye

The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)

Pearls of the Crown (1937)
signed: Rodian T.

Dark Victory (1939)

Leave Her to Heaven (1948)
signed: Willy

Suspicion (1948)
Looks like Wenzel again

The 39 Steps (1960)
signed: Wenzel

The Puritan (Early 1940s)
signed: Ruthwenn Eriksen

Chamber of Horrors (1947)
signed: Erik F.

The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb (1964)

The Gay Divorcee (1934)
signed: Erik F.

Maciste in Hell (1927)
signed: Wenzel
I would have guessed a much later date for this poster

These are images from Herbert Pfostl’s new book and exhibit “Light Issued Against Ruin.” The book was published by The Brother in Elysium in an edition of 300 copies and the exhibit starts Friday.Book Release & Show Friday, March 28th 6-10pm

The Brother In Elysium is proud to announce its new publication of recent works on paper by Herbert Pfostl. There will be a book release & show of all of the original artwork in the publication at 222 Roebling Street on Friday, March 28 from 6-10pm. The work will also be on view Saturday, March 29th from noon-5pm.

Light Issued Against Ruin is a handmade artist book made in a trade edition of 300 copies. Artwork printed 4-color offset with all text hand set and printed letterpress. Each copy has been sewn and bound into letterpress printed wrappers. Publication price of $40. Purchase here.

222 Roebling Street Brooklyn NY – Ground level studio.
Located off the Bedford L & Marcy J train stops.
Herbert has been a friend from the earliest days of A Journey Round My Skull (we bonded over Hans Henny Jahnn). I find this new work stunning.